An Uneducated Electorate Promotes Democracy's Demise

Richard Dreyfuss suggests that the current inattentive, apathetic and uninterested nature of our citizenry will eventually doom U.S. republican democracy. He discusses Jeffersonian views and how the future survival of our freedom and democracy is dependent upon an educated and inquisitive citizenry, not those who accept administration rhetoric, or Fox News propoganda.

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[AmericansWakeUp]

The most recent Supreme Court decision to give corporations 1st amendment rights (See my video Supreme Court Death Blow to Democracy) that will drown out the rights of citizens, is one clear example of how our uneducated and uninformed electorate, is enabling and/or causing the death of our democracy.

[riksw2]

He is absolutely right and here's why Democracy is in trouble. Our schools look down their noses at people who teach history and civics, it's a fact. Their status is somewhere below a P.E. teacher, and somewhere above a janitor. Social Science subjects are no longer counted as significant in our quantitate knowledge. It has been reduced to the level of a consumer economics class. This is why most Americans are culturally illiterate. Our want for technology and corporatism is killing democracy.

[meganDY12]

Reason, logic, clarity ect...need to be relearned...I totally agree. It needs to be taught outside of the partisan views.....Truly taught so that everyone can make a more educated and calculated decision about what they believe in and act accordingly. =)

[vietnow87]

We need to let go of this neo-con idea of American exceptionalism. Dissension is the highest form of patriotism. If you don't learn from history then you're condemned to repeat it jackass.

[3089280288]

Ignorance is the enemy of democracy.

[PktMma]

American democracy is 2/3 dead so it won't die "in our kids lifetime", rather in ours.

[88mphsss]

Richard Dreyfuss IS Mr. Holland. He talks exactly like this!

[J5MARLON]

Technically USA is a republic and ancient Greece was really aristocracy and according to Plato Democracy was mob rule so Tea party and Occupy Wall street are more in Plato idea of democracy.

[J5MARLON]

Thank you Mr. Richard Dreyfuss

[ROTTENDEADCORPSE]

America is NOT nor has it ever been a democracy! Democracy is bullshit!

[jgonsalk]

@Dkouts57 Well, half the population was female, and then you add the male slaves who don't vote until you eventually get to 1/7. I'm not sure if the middle classes voted either, but I did read 1/7 in my history book. That said, it could be wrong.

A constitutional republic is simply one form of democracy. I don't think the two are mutually exclusive in that sense. My main point is that democracy (as we know it) is a recent phenomenon.

[Dkouts57]

@jgonsalk

the Greeks had democracy, 1 in 7 is not no slaves or women. How many slaves do you think there were? they voted on everything even ostracizing their greatest citizens.

The United states is not a democracy. its a constitutional republic.

[jgonsalk]

The Greeks never had any democracy. They invented the word but you could hardly call it democracy. Only one in seven people could vote. No women, no slaves. . . there were many restrictions. It was a groundbreaking idea but to say that democracy is a recent phenomenon is accurate as theirs is barely related to ours on a practical level.